The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs has taken opinions of foreigners while discussing the Bangladesh EPZ Labour Bill 2016.Sources said US Ambassador, Canadian High Commissioner as well as representatives of  European Union and International Labour Organisation expressed their eagerness to give their opinions while finalising the bill.The minutes of today’s meeting showed that the committee took the opinions of the foreigners as the bill was related to the country’s business and labour.Committee members, including Tajul Islam Chowdhury, Abdul Matin Khasru, Sahara Khatun, Shamsul Haque Tuku, Talukder Mohammad Yunus and Safura Begum attended the meeting with its chairman Suranjit Sengupta in the chair.Agriculture minister Matia Chowdhury also attended the meeting on special invitation.After the meeting, committee chairman Sengupta told the reporters that the committee put importance on their opinions as the bill is related to the country’s business and labour.Sources said that a US embassy official told the last meeting that the US had been working to help Bangladesh establish a healthy garment industry.He said the EPZ bill has been scrutinised but an issue related to the ILO has not been considered properly.He advised the committee to sit for a discussion with the labour unions and owners of industries.He also recommended for upgrading the law in line with the suggestion of the ILO.Canadian representative also echoed the opinion of the US representative.ILO representative laid importance on unionism at the EPZ. The committee recommended scrutinising Bangladesh EPZ Labour Bill, 2016, correction and addition to the bill based on the opinions of the guests, and submitting it again on the next meeting.Law and Justice Division secretary, Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division secretary, director general of Prime Minister’s Office, executive chairman and general manager of BEPZA, were present at the meeting, among others.The cabinet on February 15 gave the nod to the draft Bangladesh EPZ Labour Law 2016, with provisions for forming legal trade unions in factories inside the Export Processing Zones. Allowing trade unions in factories was the last of the 16 conditions set by the US to be fulfilled by the Bangladesh government for regaining the GSP (Generalised System of Preferences) in the US market.The US suspended the GSP for Bangladesh in June, 2013 after the Rana Plaza collapse citing shortcomings in workplace safety and labour rights.

Infrastructure deficits and gas and power supply problems are undermining the performance of all the productive sectors of the economy, said the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Monday. Frequency of power outages across the country has been on the rise in recent weeks despite a substantial increase in the country’s overall electricity generation, said the MCCI. ‘Businesses are bearing the brunt of frequent load shedding as industrial output is being hampered, while residents are suffering from scorching heat during the fag end of the monsoon,’ said the MCCI in its economic review for July-September period. The MCCI, however, hopes that because of some recent deals with China and some distribution facility updating by the government the problem in the power sector would be resolved. ‘The government should adopt adequate steps to overcome these problems, and achieve and preserve political stability, which are essential for creating an investment-friendly climate, so crucial to achieve higher economic growth,’ it said. The MCCI said remittance inflow in the first quarter of the current fiscal year 2016-17 dropped by 17.82 per cent to $3.23 billion compared to $3.93 billion in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year. ‘The drop in remittances was due to the decline in the income and savings of Bangladeshi expatriates living in the Middle-Eastern countries due to the persistently uncertain political situation in the Middle East,’ it said. The implementation of the Annual Development Programme failed to pick pace in the quarter under review, although the government took a number of initiatives to accelerate ADP implementation, said the MCCI review. ‘The implementation rate in July-September of the FY17 was just 8.75 per cent mainly due to the failure of large ministries and divisions. The low implementation rate can also be attributed to the poor implementing capacity of the agencies concerned. Implementation rate was 6.74 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal,’ it said. The MCCI said although the net foreign direct investment increased in the quarter under review, industry insiders consider it insufficient. In July-September of the FY17 the FDI increased by 9.30 per cent to $435 million from $398 million in the corresponding period of the FY16. ‘Industry insiders consider this amount of FDI quite insufficient to meet the country’s development needs. Bangladesh’s low labour costs and efficient supply chain, especially in readymade garments industry, appear generally attractive to foreign investors, but of late they have adopted a “go-slow” strategy in making fresh investments,’ said the MCCI. ‘They consider the underdeveloped infrastructure, shortage of power and energy, lack of consistency in policy, procedural bottlenecks, weak regulatory framework, scarcity of industrial lands, lack of proper coordination among government agencies, and political uncertainty as major impediments to new investment,’ it also added.

Bangladesh can become an export powerhouse like its East Asian neighbours by improving its business competitiveness and trade regime, which will help firms compete globally, the World Bank said in a new report yesterday. Bangladesh is a wonderful case of how the rise in competitiveness can help cut poverty, said Vincent Palmade, lead economist for trade and competitiveness global practice at the WB, presenting the report at a programme at Le Méridien in Dhaka yesterday. “Now the challenge for Bangladesh is to continue the success and diversify into other areas.” The report — South Asia’s Turn: Policies to Boost Competitiveness and Create the Next Export Powerhouse — identified four policy levers that can help Bangladesh enable its firms to boost productivity and become more globally competitive. These include improving the business environment, connecting firms to global value chain, maximising agglomeration benefits, and strengthening the firms’ capabilities. “With rising labour costs in East Asian countries, investors and buyers are now turning to South Asia, including Bangladesh,” said Palmade. With over two million youths entering the labour market every year, Bangladesh needs to act now to seize the opportunity and create more jobs, he added. The WB launched the report jointly with the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh. Speaking at the launch, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said Bangladesh has been very good in exploiting areas where it has comparative advantages. In the 1980s, his major concern was how to manage food for the population, and he had to sit with development partners three to four times a year, he said. “Now I have no worries about food although arable land has narrowed by 10 percent, while the population has doubled over the last three decades.”  Bangladesh’s exports increased 13 percent a year in the last decade, according to the report. However, 80 percent of its exports remained concentrated in garment, mostly low-value items. Bangladesh needs to continue to grow its exports by improving the mix and quality of its apparel products, as well as diversify into new labour and skills intensive industries, such as footwear, light engineering and electronics. While about 80 percent of the firms in Bangladesh practise technological innovation, well above the average in Eastern Europe and Africa, most are limited to imitating existing products and processes, according to the report.  To better connect and expose South Asian firms to international good practices, Bangladesh and other South Asian countries should deepen reforms to improve the capabilities of firms to participate in global value chains, which will require making it much easier for exporters to import what they need, gradually reducing tariff, while improving trade logistics, said the report. With support from governments, firms can improve their productivity and competitiveness by investing more in training their workers and managers, innovating to introduce new products and processes, as well as making greater use of the internet to buy, sell, market, or manage their inventory, the report said. “To realise Bangladesh’s competitiveness potential, the country needs to start by focusing on improving its trade policy regime and the business environment, and address the acute shortage of industrial land,” Qimiao Fan, the WB’s country director for Bangladesh, said in a statement. “With the right set of policies and an enabling environment, there is no reason why Bangladesh cannot become the next Asian export powerhouse.” Wendy Jo Werner, country manager of the International Finance Corporation, said increasing private investment is the key to creation of more and better jobs, an important development objective for Bangladesh. “Critical for private sector growth will be enhanced competiveness that requires policy support to improve the investment climate and increase integration with global and regional markets.”  She said South Asia needs $2.2 trillion in infrastructure investment; Bangladesh’s infrastructure investment requirement would also be high. Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of PRI, said South Asia’s performance has been led mainly by India and Bangladesh in recent years. In fact, Bangladesh has fared well compared to India in some social and economic indicators.  As the workforce ages and labour costs rise in China, it would create opportunities for South Asia and Bangladesh, he added. SR Osmani, a professor of development economics at UK’s Ulster University, said countries should look to expand footprints where they have comparative advantages, instead of venturing into many sectors. Rubana Huq, managing director of Mohammadi Group, said following the collapse of Rana Plaza, remediation has been going on with or without help. “I think Bangladesh will end up becoming one of the most compliant countries in the world in the coming years.” Arif Dowla, managing director of ACI Ltd, called for increasing agricultural productivity. “If we can double the productivity and feed the population by cultivating crops on half of the land currently in use, we will be able to free up land for others including industrial purposes.”Kazi M Aminul Islam, executive chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority, said the government is revisiting factors, including incentives that affect businesses. The report called for expanding the bonded warehouse scheme, gradual harmonisation of tariffs to a lower base and continuous improvement of customs, ports and logistics in a bid to connect to the global value chain. Palmade said they have come to know that Bangladesh is working on reducing para-tariff by 1 percent every year. “This is good news.”